The Showman & The Sleight
by AnotherGirlWithAStory
Summary: J. Daniel Atlas is The Showman. Jack Wilder is The Sleight. But to each other they are so much more than that. LoversDeath.
1. The Showman & The Sleight: Part I

**Title** : The Showman & The Sleight: Part I

 **Pairing** : Daniel x Jack

 **Word Count** : 3, 070

 **AN** : Imagine if Jack and Danny met before the Four Horsemen.

This was originally the first chapter of a Multi-Chapter fic but I kind of lost track of where it was going and it became messy so I decided to publish it again but as a three-chapter fic.

* * *

This is ironic, Daniel thought to himself as he fell to the ground. He was a man who prided himself in not needing his eyesight – he believed it to be treacherous – and he often told the people who watched his magic tricks this. It was ironic that _he_ would be the one to run into someone. _Mere minutes after another successful show_. One of the few he left without a girl _or man_ by his side.

Daniel put down his elbows. An audible groan left his lips as he felt pieces of gravel tear pieces of his skin through the two layers of clothing. He was fully prepared to tell the person who pushed him that he _or she_ was a complete moron and needed to watch where they were going. And then he looked up.

The man who had pushed him looked a few years younger than Daniel himself. He had brown, short hair, big brown eyes with thick eyebrows and thin lips. Daniel didn't realize that he'd been holding his breath until the man spoke. His voice was contradictory both light, dark and husky at the same time.

"J. Daniel Atlas… Fuck, I am so sorry! Let me help you up." He took Daniel's hands and pulled him up from the ground. "I'm a huge fan, man. I can't believe I ran you down, are you okay?"

"Nice to meet you…"

"Jack Wilder."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Jack Wilder. As for running me down, there's no need to apologize. I wasn't watching where I was going."

Jack smiled and that tiny little expression had butterflies moving inside Daniels stomach and for a moment he thought that he was having a heart attack. There simply was no other way of explaining the way his heart rapidly beat inside his heart. It felt as if his heart had entered a competition to see if it could beat so fast that it could blind the other senses in Daniel's body.

"You practicing what you preach?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. So, what were you running from?"

Jack's eyes grew double in size as if he suddenly remembered why he had run into Daniel in the first place and he looked back. "I stole some dude's wallet, he wasn't all that happy about it. I really should go before he catches up with me."

Daniel hummed, easily hiding the disappointment he felt. "Yeah I guess."

"It was nice meeting you." Jack said.

Daniel watched him take two steps. "Hey," Jack turned around. "Can I have your number?"

"You want my number?" Again, Jack's eyes doubles in size.

Daniel nodded. "Yeah." They swapped numbers and then Jack began backing away from him, blending in with the crowd without even trying. Daniel tried ignoring the tiny voice in the back of his head that told him how disappointed he was to see Jack go that soon. He almost managed when Jack smiled at him. "I guess I'll see you around."

"I'll call you," Jack winked at him. "Bye Danny."

Daniel hated nicknames, he especially hated that nickname. But for some reason it didn't bother him when Jack said it. Daniel waved and then Jack disappeared into the crowd of people. Daniel lost sight of him sooner than he wanted to admit. In fact, he spent most of the following days doing things he never thought he would. Being the control freak that he was Daniel didn't change his routine but a new habit found its way into the routine that he had been following since he left home.

Daniel woke up _and then he checked his phone_.

Daniel had breakfast _and then he checked his phone_.

Daniel went to the location of his show for the day. No matter how long or short the walk there was he always listened to music and whenever he changed the music _Daniel would check his phone for messages or against all possibilities, missed calls_.

There never was one. And it was slowly driving him insane. _For so many reasons_.

Daniel wasn't supposed to be acting like this. He was the famous one. He was the person who had worked his ass of in order to be as known as he was. People – males and females – were throwing themselves at him after each show he put on. He never had to chase people, they always came to him. He didn't do chasing and J. Daniel Atlas definitely didn't pine. Especially not for some guy he had only met once. At least that's what he told himself. A week later Daniel almost bought it. He almost believed that he wasn't interested in this Jack Wilder. It was physical attraction and nothing else. That was the only reason his heart beat one extra time whenever Daniel thought he saw Jack on the street. The chills that went down his spine and the fact that the air was caught in his throat had nothing to do with him pining for Jack. It was something completely different. He just couldn't pinpoint what that was. But that only meant that he hadn't given it enough thought. That was the logical explanation. Daniel shook his head; he couldn't be thinking about Jack if he was performing a show.

He took the deck of cards out of his pocket and stood completely still while he nonchalantly shuffled the cards using both hands. Eventually the murmuring grow louder and when Daniel looked up there was a number of people watching him with anticipation. This was a relatively new development. It had taken him years to get to the point where he didn't have to market the fact that he was performing somewhere. All he had to do was show up and people would surely recognize him and then spread the word about where he was.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen," he spoke with a loud voice in order to make sure that everyone heard. "My name is J. Daniel Atlas and if you want to spend some of your precious time on me I'll make it worth your while."

He winked at some girls standing nearby. They started giggling as he assumed they would. His persona was charming in groups – or so Daniel had been told by his previous assistant – but it was the one on one he had to work on. Daniel had thanked her for the compliment. She'd quit eventually. Not because he thanked her for the compliment but because she – as she put it herself – was sick and tired of being controlled by his sick, cruel and twisted mind. _All because he'd told her she needed to lose weight_. He hadn't used those exact words but that's what he had meant.

"I am going to perform some magic for you today." The crowd applauded and Daniel forced himself to smile. It was a minimum smile. The ends of his lips lifted a little bit while the rest of his face remained still. "Maybe some of you have seen me before" – a few people raised their hands – "oh, good. Maybe you can enlighten the others of what I always say before I start."

"The closer you look the less you see." People responded. Normally Daniel would have just nodded and started his first trick. But one voice stood out in the crowds. And for a moment Daniel stood completely still with a frown on his face as he scanned the crowd.

He was sure that he had heard Jack. But he couldn't see him. It was probably just his mind playing him a trick. It wouldn't shock him. His eyes had already betrayed him, why wouldn't his mind do the same? Daniel looked down on the ground making a curl fall in front of his eye and when he looked up the disappointment had been pushed deeper inside of him.

"That is very correct." Daniel held the deck of cards in front of him. "Now let's begin."

Even from the back Jack could see that there was something over Danny's eyes. He looked like that every time he performed. He could talk and be normal but when it came to doing the actual trick Daniel pushed himself into a bubble where nothing existed except for him and the next move.

Jack stood with his arms crossed over his chest. Completely hidden in clear view. That's what he liked to call it.

A flash of red caught his attention and Jack turned to the side. A girl with long red hair stood next to him with a bag slung over her shoulder and white gloves covering her hands. She was a little bit shorter than Jack but unlike him she stood out in the crowd.

"He's good, isn't he?" the woman asked as she glanced over at him.

"Amazing." Jack agreed.

"I used to be his assistant. When you work so close with someone it becomes even clearer if they are talented or not. Danny is the real deal. I swear he lives and breathes magic." She said briefly. "Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Henley Reeves, former assistant to that very talented asshole over there and current escape artist."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Jack Wilder."

"It was a pleasure talking to you, Jack Wilder. Sadly, this is where I go. I wouldn't want _him_ to see me. Technically, we're not on speaking terms and I swore never to see him perform even if he was the last magician on earth. I'm not about to give him the satisfaction of seeing me here. You have a good day."

"I thought you were friends." Jack said without hesitation.

Henley shook her head. "I don't think anyone is friends with Danny. He has some acquaintances but no friends. Sadly, talent don't go hand in hand with good manners or decent social skills."

With that said Henley gave him a last nod and followed a group of people walking away from the show. Jack turned his attention back to Daniel. The man was completely immersed in his trick. The tiny smile that signaled satisfaction looked as if it had been glued onto his face. The way it did during all of his shows. Because Daniel never made any mistakes. He always got things right. When you looked at him from the crowd it appeared as if he never did anything wrong and he never hesitated.

Jack hesitated all the time. Especially, when he got given J. Daniel Atlas number. _I'll call you_ he'd said. The very next day Jack looked at his phone like a moron wondering if it was too soon. He decided that it was and thought that maybe if he waited for two days that he wouldn't seem desperate. But when those two days had passed and Jack was going to call it felt as if someone was attempting to strangle him whenever he got even remotely close to the call-button. A week later he still hadn't called.

There was something about calling that stopped him. That's why he decided to walk and see the show. If he met Danny face to face, then he'd have to talk to him. _Assuming Danny followed his own advice and saw him in the crowd_.

Daniel performed the tricks in the exact order that he had planned it. They all succeeded and by the time it was over he had almost forgotten about the fact that he had heard Jacks voice from somewhere in the crowd. But as soon as the last trick was over Daniel was reminded. Right away he scanned the crowd. Growing more and more impatient when every person he thought was Jack turned out not to be. He almost laughed out loud when he realized what he was doing. Instead of looking at the individual people Daniel took a step back and glanced at them as a group and only stopped when he saw a familiar smile and a familiar set of brown eyes looking at him from a few meters away. Daniel's heart beat a bit quicker when he walked over to the young man.

"I almost thought you were going to leave without saying hello. Don't you follow your own advice, Atlas?" Jack said with a big smile that showed two lines of perfect teeth.

"That's funny." _So, I thought you were going to call me but you didn't, what's up with that?_ Daniel thought but didn't say. "So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I was watching you perform." Jack responded in a duh-tone of voice that had Daniel rolling his eyes. "And I figured that instead of calling you and see if you wanted to hang out I could go here and ask you myself. So, do you want to hang out?"

Daniel nodded. "Sure, maybe one of these days you could show me what you do."

"What's wrong with right now?"

"Nothing." Daniel shook his head. "My place or your place?"

"Well," Jack shrugged. He pushed his hands down the pockets of his jeans and all of the sudden the smile fell from his face and his eyes looked dark and hard like stone. "I'm kind of homeless right now so going to my place could be hard."

Daniel shrugged. "My place it is then. We'll get something to eat on the way. Do you like Chinese?"

As soon as they began walking Daniel started asking questions. He never said anything about himself but kept on shooting away questions at Jack. And as soon as he began talking Daniel looked him straight in the eyes and hummed every now and again to show that he was still listening. He very rarely reacted by smiling or frowning but every time Jack managed to get him to smile it felt as if he'd won some kind of prize. Because when Daniel smiled it wasn't the usual smile that everyone saw at shows. It was something out of the ordinary. It looked like a _genuine smile_. Jack began noticing little things about Danny during the first few minutes of talking to him. He noticed even more when Danny was ordering food. Jack noticed the way he'd mumble the words when he was in line like an actor about to do some really hard scene and when he stood by the counter he moved the spices on the table until they stood in the correct order; from the smallest to the largest.

Eventually they got back to Danny's apartment. Jack didn't know what he thought it would look like but he wasn't disappointed. There were a lot of open spaces, a kitchen table, a couch and then two doors further down the room which Jack assumed would lead to the bedroom and the bathroom.

"Cool place," Jack said as he walked around. Daniel – though seeming fully invested in the task at hand – managed to say thank you. "So, do you live here by yourself?"

"Yeah, well for now anyway. Do you want food first or do you want to show me your magic?"

Jack didn't ask what that was supposed to mean even if he wanted to. "I can do magic at the same time. Do you have a deck of cards somewhere?"

"Not at all, it's not as if I'm constantly carrying one around or anything." Daniel rolled his eyes as he took one from the back of his pocket and threw it to Jack who easily caught it.

"Now, do you have anything you won't mind me breaking?" Jack asked. Daniel raised an eyebrow but nodded and picked up a pen. "Good, now hold that a bit higher. And don't move." He threw the card with one swiping move and watched as the ben broke in two pieces.

"That's really impressive." Daniel said while nodding. "What else can you do?"

So, Jack showed him. He stole the older man's phone without him noticing it, he copied his voice and then broke some more stuff using only Daniel's deck of cards. He still spoke the most. He told Danny about what got him interested in magic and about leaving his parents' house; _not the entire story_ , just the parts he wanted him to know and luckily Danny didn't ask for more information than what he got. Danny didn't say anything about himself. He sat quietly, he asked questions and he made sounds when they were appropriate. Jack didn't know if he was imagining or not but it looked and felt as if Danny acted like he did when performing. He put his entire heart and soul into it to the point where the world outside of him and his next action disappeared.

"This is unrealistic." Jack eventually spoke.

"What is?"

"I'm having dinner with my idol."

Daniel frowned. "Thanks for the compliment but that doesn't sound right. It sounds better if you say friend instead of idol."

Jack almost choked on the noodles he was about to swallow. "Are we friends?"

"Yeah, at least that's what I thought." Daniel replied with a shrug. "I mean I like you. I rarely like people but you I like and I'd like to hang out with you some more. Isn't that what friendship is? You find a human that you like and want to do stuff with so you bring them along to pretty much everything you can come up with that they may be into?"

Jack blinked several times. "Yeah, I guess that's one way of looking at it."

Daniels smile grew. "Cool, so since we're friends now. Do you want to spend the night? And yes, I am partly asking because you're homeless and it doesn't feel right kicking you out. Even if you could probably find another place to stay. But I'm also asking because we're friends. And because of that reason I don't want to kick you out."

"Are you sure you have the space?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I live alone in this apartment. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have the space for one more person."

Jack laughed. "You're weird. You do know that people don't tend to invite semi-strangers to stay the night?"

Daniel shrugged. "Yeah well, I've been told that I'm not normal so if anyone would do then it's me plus you're not a semi-stranger. You're my friend. We're friends. With that being said will you stay?"

Jack nodded. "I'll stay."

Daniel didn't bother hiding his smile. "Good."


	2. The Showman & The Sleight: Part II

**Chapter two** : The Showman & The Sleight: Part II

 **Word Count** : 3, 070

* * *

It took exactly five days for Daniel to grow accustomed to Jack being a constant presence in his life. Not only did he grow accustomed to his presence; he was really enjoying it. The a few years' younger man had a way of understanding him that no one else had. He was unique in that way. _And in so many other ways_. Because Daniel was sure that no one had ever affected him the way Jack had. And though Daniel didn't tell Jack he realized quickly that there were few things he wouldn't do for him. Jack made his heart beat quicker and the smile he often had to force came more naturally when Jack was around.

That fifth day was no different compared to any other day. Daniel woke up. He saw Jack sleeping on the couch with one arm hanging outside and the other covering his eyes. It had happened more than once that he walked in at some point during the night. The first time it happened, Daniel had frowned and asked Jack if the door was unlocked.

Jack laughed but shook his head.

"How did you get in?"

"Nothing is ever locked."

Daniel's heart felt a bit lighter. Like it did when Jack called him Danny. _Like it did when Jack did a lot of things_.

He walked to the kitchen and began preparing breakfast. It had become a habit to make breakfast for both even if he didn't know when Jack would be up. Daniel probably wouldn't be in the apartment when that happened but that didn't really matter. The coffee machine was a recent addition. There had never been a reason for him to own one since Daniel didn't drink coffee. But Jack did. And that was reason enough. That was also the reason that his fridge contained different kind of foods that Daniel had never bought before. He didn't eat them. _But Jack did_.

There were exactly two people in this world that could get J. Daniel Atlas to tell the truth. And one of those people were no longer alive. Jack Wilder was the other. Daniel didn't know why or what it was about Jack that made him completely unable to answer any question he had with anything other than the truth. He imagined it was his eyes. Jack as a person could be described as a chameleon but the most versatile part of him were his eyes. They could go from childish, to sensual to trusting in a matter of seconds. And when he looked at Daniel with that special expression that for some reason made it feel as if daggers were being pushed through his heart and when he said Danny; all Daniel could do was tell the truth no matter if he wanted to or not.

He smiled and were pushed back to only a few days earlier.

Daniel was cooking and Jack was going to prove to him that even the great J. Daniel Atlas could get mugged. It didn't matter if he was good at magic or not. One of these days he was going to show up at his show and the deck of cards he always carried with him would be mysteriously missing together with his wallet and phone; and he would never get it back again.

Daniel just laughed at him. "I'd notice as soon as something was missing. And I'd search the entire city until I found my things again."

"That's just weird." Jack said from behind him where he tossed a card between his hands. "No one cares that much about their stuff. Only if you're in a movie. But even then, the characters always have this supposedly really sad story when that not so nice wristwatch was their fathers and they promised that they would take care of it for him until he came back." He pretended to wipe a tear away.

"Yeah well, I'm not normal. I thought you'd figured that out by now."

Jack glanced at the different vegetables that were put up in the counter next to Danny and then on the stove. He had noticed that something was different about Danny. It was hard not to. It didn't matter what it was or where he was, Danny would move things around so that whatever it was were standing in the – according to him – correct order; from smallest to largest. He noticed the smallest of details. Like when Jack had run into the couch once and it had moved a few centimeters. Danny moved it back again and that was it but what amazed Jack was the fact that he had noticed it as soon as he stepped inside the apartment.

And some nights Danny didn't sleep. Jack didn't know what he was doing during those nights. He could only hear the vague sounds of mumbling – not loud enough to be irritating – and the shuffling of cards.

"Yeah well," Jack spoke eventually and took a step forward removing any distance between the two. "Normal is boring."

He leaned over Daniel's shoulder and sniffed while he leaned his hand on Danny's right shoulder. It felt like there was an internal struggle inside of Danny at that moment. His body became stiff and for a moment he didn't breathe but at the same time Jack could see the trace of a smile. _One of those genuine smiles_.

"Smells nice." He said and returned to his place a little bit behind Danny. "Were you planning on going out today?"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Do you need your wallet back?" Jack watched as Danny felt his pockets for the wallet that he always carried with him. Then he turned around and Jack raised his hand with his wallet in it. "I told you so."

The memory made Daniel laugh. Just like a lot of others. Jack really did become a huge part of his world in the five days that had gone by. Partly because there was very little in Daniel's life other than magic prior to Jack. And magic he did pretty well meaning that he could make room for something else if he wanted to. He just didn't want to before or maybe he hadn't met the right person.

"You could never do what I do on a daily basis." Jack said as he sat on the other side of the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his arms. Every now and again he would toss one up and catch it with his mouth.

Daniel smiled at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Because Atlas, you need to be in control all the time. You can't be in control at all times if you're going to do what I do. It can get you quite far but at some point; you're going to have to let go of that control and start acting impulsively."

Daniel sighed. He disliked – no, he _hated_ – admitting his weaknesses and he rarely – no, he _never_ – did it. Unless the person confronting him about it was Jack or that one other person he could never lie to. "I see your point. There are some things you do that I could never do. But I will let you know that I am very good at blending in with a crowd." – Jack smirked. – "Not as good as you are. But I'm good."

"How come?"

Danny's face turned cold and stiff. "Years of involuntarily practice."

Jack nodded. "You'll have to show me."

Danny smiled. "Yeah."

So, that's what he did. He waited around the apartment until Jack walked out and then he followed him. For most of the time Daniel was nowhere near being caught and he only almost lost Jack twice. It was about lunch when Danny was going to reveal himself. But when Jack took a turn down a familiar road he changed his mind. Soon enough that familiar graveyard appeared in his vision and Danny watched Jack walk down the paths until he stopped in front of a stone. Danny hesitated for a few minutes before he followed him. He was just a few steps away from Jack when the young man spoke.

"I knew you were following me." He laughed. "You're good Danny, but I'm better."

"Who's this?"

"This is my mother." Jack turned sideways so that he was watching Danny. "She died in a car accident. My dad left when I was a kid and we've never heard from him since then so when she died I was sent into foster care. It sucked. Anyway, I come back here every now and again to tell her what's been going on. I tell her about my magic and how life is going overall. It's strangely comforting."

In that moment, Daniel saw something he had never seen in Jack's eyes before: sadness. Not the kind of sadness that went away with a hug or a promise that things would get better. But genuine sadness and hurt.

Danny nodded and took a deep breath. "I like talking to my brother because it feels like he's still here."

"You had a brother?"

Danny nodded. "A twin, D. Jason Atlas. He's about two or three rows away from here in that direction. He died when we were about nineteen years old."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry about your mom." Danny smiled. "I'm going to leave the two of you alone. I'm going to talk to my brother. I haven't been here in a while."

"Thanks Danny."

Daniel didn't respond. He gave Jack a smile and a nod before walking down the path that he knew would lead him to his brother. Jason had always been their parents favorite. Not that it meant very much. He was as much of a victim as Daniel was. He didn't carry any less bruises on his body than Daniel nor was he given any more appreciation. No, his parents showed that they favored him by giving him attention. Looking back Daniel realized that being given attention by those people were worse than being ignored. The name Jason meant a person who heals. But his brother never did heal. And Daniel's parents never forgave him for not saving Jason. Just like they never forgave him for being a freak. Because that's what they believed that he was. In their eyes, there were no other explanation.

"Hey brother, I have some questions for you. I really wish you could be here and answer me because I'm confused as per usual." Daniel kneeled in front of the stone and removed some of the moss. "It's about love. Or maybe it's about having a crush I don't know what you want to call it. This particular emotion seems to have a lot of names and based on what society says it's really important which one you use. You were always better at stuff like that. You were better at being social overall. That's why I figured you could help me. Because I don't know what to do with this. I know what to do with sexual attraction. But love is something completely different. You would know what to do. I wish you were here to tell me what to do like you used to do when we were kids."

"The great Danny Atlas used to be pushed around by his brother?" Jack sat down next to him. "So, this is Jason Atlas. I'm assuming he looked just like you?"

"Technically yeah." Daniel laughed. "But if he was here he'd tell you that he was the more handsome one. It shouldn't be correct but it was. There was something special about him; I don't know what."

"There's something special about you too, Danny." Jack said with a smile. "You just can't tell because you're so used to it. It's like when you live in the same place your entire life. You get used to all the things around you and sometimes people need to remind you of the beauty of your home."

"You're very smart." Daniel smiled. "So, what did you talk to your mother about this time?"

Jack shrugged. "Everything and nothing. Complicated things and easy things. Just things I needed to get off my chest. She was a very good listener. No matter what was bugging me she always listened to me as if my problem was the most important thing in the world and she wanted nothing more than to solve it. She always gave good advice too. I can still imagine what she'd look like if she was here and what she'd tell me to do." He took a deep breath. "I think she'd like you."

Daniel laughed. "I doubt it. It may have escaped your attention Wilder but people tend to dislike me."

"I like you." Jack said easily.

Daniel ignored the way his heart skipped a beat. "I guess that makes you unique."

"Is that a good unique or a bad unique?"

Without missing a beat Daniel answered. "A good unique. Definitely."

Daniel was pulled from the memory when he felt something hot on his stomach. He took a quick step back and pulled his shirt of. "Oh fuck." He muttered.

It wasn't a big burn nor was it the worst kind of pain he had ever experienced before but it hurt enough for Daniel to feel that he had the right to complain about it. He didn't think about the two scars that went vertically from his wrists about ten centimeters upwards along both his arms. They became – like his three tattoos – a part of him. Occasionally when he was in the shower or when he was getting dressed Daniel would see them – the tattoos and the scars – and he would be reminded of things that happened a very long time ago. Of the things, he had in some ways left behind and in some ways still carried with him like a shadow that followed his every step. Daniel stood in front of the sink. He took water on a towel and put it on his stomach where a red mark had already appeared. It wasn't that big.

"Danny, you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Daniel turned around. Not thinking. "I just managed to burn myself on my stomach when I was making breakfast. Seriously, on my stomach. How does one even do that? Well, obviously, I knew how to do that since I just did."

When Jack didn't say anything, Daniel looked up from his stomach. The red mark wasn't hurting anymore. He was about to say something funny or at least sarcastic when he saw what Jack was looking at and he crossed his arms over his chest so that Jack could no longer see the scars.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare. I just didn't expect that. I didn't expect _you_ …"

Daniel laughed. "Yeah well, most people don't. I don't let people see them. The last time I did was by accident and I was told that they were probably tattooed on my skin because there was no way in hell that _god's gift to magicians all over the world would do that to himself_."

Jack took a step forward but stopped when Danny raised his hand.

"Can you just stop." His voice quivered and underneath the tiny, stiff smile there was uncertainty and something that Jack had never seen before: vulnerability. So, Jack stopped.

Jack leaned against the counter. A few meters separated them but it felt like much more. "When did you do that to yourself?"

"I was fifteen the first time. The second time I had just turned twenty." Daniel felt his shoulder bend downwards and just like when he was a kid that familiar fear appeared in his chest. The fear that Jack would call him stupid and tell him that he was exaggerating. He knew that wouldn't happen. But that didn't stop him from being afraid of it. "My brother found me the first time. It was before he got _sick_. The second time it was said to be a _miracle_. One of my neighbor had a bad feeling and decided to walk into my apartment and she found me in the bedroom. Apparently, I got to the hospital just in time."

"Why?"

Danny shrugged and spoke the first words that came to mind. "Because I didn't know what else to do. When I was fifteen I couldn't control anything. Everything that happened was spontaneously planned by my parents and things changed all the time. I hated it and I still hate it When I was twenty I had just lost the only person in the world who had always been there for me. I couldn't imagine a situation where I didn't feel horrible and I decided that I was done with it all. I didn't want to do this anymore."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Daniel laughed. "I am going to regret answering that question. But I'm telling you because I can't lie to you. I don't know why but when you ask me something I tell you the truth without thinking about it."

Jack smiled. "That's good to know. Because I need you to tell me if you ever feel like that again."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Because the world of magic can't cope without J. Daniel Atlas?"

Jack shook his head. "No, but I probably wouldn't cope without you Danny. You can't tell but you are so much more than your magic. You said that there was something about your brother, something special, but you didn't know what it was. Well, you have something special about you too."

"Is that why people tend to dislike me and accuse me of pushing them away?"

Jack shrugged. "I think that not even you understand what it is you have that is so special. And I think that whatever it is scares people."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

Danny tilted his head slightly to the right. "Are you scared of me? Do you dislike me?"

Jack shook his head. "No, Danny. I happen to like you very much. And that is why I am going to hug you. If you're okay with that?"

Danny didn't like hugging people. But Jack weren't people. He was _Jack_. "Yeah, I'm okay with that."

The distance which had felt so much bigger than it really was vanished in mere seconds and Jack put his arms around Daniel's waist. Danny leaned his head onto Jack's shoulder and allowed a feeling of comfort to spread in his body. He had never felt so content with another person before. Only magic had made him feel this kind of sensation. It didn't surprise Danny that he got the same feelings from hugging Jack as he did from performing and perfecting magic. In so many ways Jack was magic. And he didn't even know it.


	3. The Showman & The Sleight: Part III

**Chapter three** : The Showman & The Sleight: Part III

 **Word Count** : 3, 070

* * *

Jack rarely woke up earlier than Danny but it did happen on occasion.

When he did – as he did that random morning – he goes into Danny's room and looks at the sleeping man. He rarely moved in his sleep and Jack often found him lying exactly the same way as he had the night before. His back was against the wall and he held a pillow against so close to his chest that it left no space for air. Occasionally he frowned and then his face relaxed. It took everything in Jack not to smooth out the lines that appeared on Danny's face when that frown appeared. So far, he'd managed.

He then walked out the door, locked it behind him and went out to get money. He walked through the city with a habit that only came from living on the streets. Jack knew every road like the back of his hand. He knew where to go when you wanted to be left alone and where to go if you needed instant money. And while his feet carried him where he was supposed to go his mind wandered of elsewhere.

Danny was a complicated guy. No one could claim otherwise. He didn't always go after what he wanted and he thought things through but five and six times before he acted upon his desires. Jack knew a lot more than Danny thought he knew about him. He knew about the Danny's fear for strong emotions, about the occasional anxiety that left him paralyzed and the meaning of the tattoos on his body.

Jack was a simple guy. When he wanted something, he went after it. He didn't fear his own emotions nor the world. The world had already tried beating him once and it had failed. Jack knew for a fact that when the next battle came – as it would – he would yet again walk out as the winner. Jack knew a lot of things. But at the moment what shocked him was the way Danny avoided him. Badly but never the less the magician was making attempts. He was making attempts at avoiding everyone.

Jack stood in the back when Danny performed his show. He could see the way the girls clung to his every word and Jack knew for a fact that at least one of them would offer to go with Danny home. But when that happened Danny shook his head and walked back to the apartment alone. Jack knew this since he followed him. Something had changed for the past weeks and Jack knew what. He had no trouble seeing that all the magic Danny was doing – and the other stuff that kept him busy – was to avoid Jack. Because seeing less of Jack meant experiencing less of those emotions that seemed to take over his mind and make him completely unable to function. Jack didn't know what exactly was going on inside his head. _But he wanted to_.

He remembered following Danny once to the graveyard. He watched – not shocked – as Danny sat down on the ground in front of his brothers grave and then he began talking.

"I still haven't talked about it with anyone other than you." He began and laughed. "I'm doing exactly what used to annoy you when we were kids. I'm stalling because if I don't do anything maybe he'll never know and then eventually it'll all just be another lost opportunity. Another relationship that wasn't meant to be. I prefer those to be honest. They're way better than ending up hurt or hurting someone."

Jack had a pretty good idea about who he was talking about. But he didn't know for sure. And thus, far he hadn't been brave enough to ask. Or to admit his feelings.

Danny was alone in the apartment when he found the card. He knew that something was wrong the moment he stepped in. He squinted at the furniture and tried to see what had been moved. _Because he knew that something was not in the same place as it had been when he left that morning_. And eventually he saw the card with the ever so ironic name. _The Lovers_. And after noticing the date and address he allowed himself to sit on the couch and laugh at the irony of the card.

 _The lovers, really?_

It wasn't that he was completely oblivious to the amount of sexual conquests he had under his belt. _He knew there were more than enough_. But he never considered any of them as _lovers_. They were people that he had sex with once and occasionally but very rarely twice. Danny knew how to do sex without emotions but he knew nothing about love and the term lovers was something he'd never used.

Initially the card had led to a spark of excitement but the more Danny looked at it the more it annoyed him. It felt as if it was mocking him and reminded Danny of how incapable he was of acting upon his emotions. He thought that he would eventually get used to his feelings for Jack and Danny believed that when that happened they would subside and grow weaker or if nothing else get easier to hide. Ever since Danny learned about the Eye he had wanted to get in. He never thought that when the chance appeared that the organization – or whatever they wanted to be called – would annoy him. _The Lovers_. Really?

Danny was – if anything completely paralyzed – in front of the prospect of love. He hadn't experienced it since his brother died and that was a completely different love than the one was experiencing now. Because there really was no other way of describing it anymore. Danny had gone way past that he thought as he remembered something that had happened a few days earlier.

"You look deep in thought." Jack commented with his hoarse voice as he walked into the kitchen and sat down on the opposite side of the table. "What's going on Danny?"

Danny had been watching the piece of paper in front of him with a frown for the past hour and it was driving Jack crazy.

"I have been trying to come up with this trick but I can't seem to…" Danny sighed and glanced at Jack. "Why don't you take a look at it. Maybe you can fix it for me?"

Jack hummed as he took the piece of paper and began reading the instructions. Danny leaned back into his chair and watched as the brunet went between frowning and smiling at the idea. Occasionally he would laugh. Even when Jack wasn't doing anything special he still had the power to make Danny's heart beat quicker and it became impossible not to smile. Danny Atlas was a strange person. He had told Jack that he was his friend. He never wanted him as a friend.

"What you need is me." Jack replied after having finished reading. "Or someone else better skilled than me to do the things that needs be done backstage. Then it'll be just another trick like the ones you do all the time."

"You're right. I need you." Danny mumbled as he wrote a few words on the paper.

"Or someone as good as I am."

Danny laughed and without missing a beat or looking up from his paper he said one of many words that could make Jack blush. "And since there are no one better than you. I need _you_." Danny had realized what he'd said seconds later and then he'd made a run for it. Babbling about something that he needed to do. Jack saw straight through it. How could he not?

Two questions bothered Danny, one was which cards the others had. The other question that tainted his mind – other than the obvious – was which other magicians had been given cards? Because he very much assumed that there would be more.

The sound of the door being opened made him look up. Jack still didn't own a key but that didn't stop him from entering and leaving the apartment as he felt like. "Danny, you'll never guess what I got."

Danny smirked and put the card on the inside of his jacket before Jack had a chance to see it. "Maybe a pretty card with a date and a place written on the back?"

Jack frowned when he appeared in the living room where Danny was lying against the couch. "Yeah. Did you get one too?" Danny nodded. "Do you know what this means?" Jack added with a crooked smile. "It means that I'm as good as you are."

Danny rolled his eyes. "I already knew that. It also means that you are the best sleight in the world."

"What was that?" Jack asked as he feigned shock. Danny watched him with a smile on his face. "Was that J. Daniel Atlas agreeing with me? More specifically agreeing that I'm as good as he is at magic in which he considers to be his greatest talent? And also, was that a compliment for me? Danny…"

Danny nodded as he sat up in the couch leaving room for Jack. "Yeah, well it's true. We're not friends. I don't lie to my friends." Jack raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I don't lie to you."

Jack nodded. He walked casually across the room and sat down on the other end of the couch from Danny. He could see the slight way Danny's hand gravitated towards the deck of cards on the table and casually before Danny took it Jack's hand had already grasped it and took the cards out. He watched the cards the entire time as the thoughts ran through his mind. It was clear to the both of them that they weren't friends. The question was if they had ever been _just_ friends or if the promise of something more had followed them like a shadow since the first time they met. Dany wasn't about to do anything about it and that left Jack to yet again be the one to take action.

"So, I like you Danny."

The magician gave him an amused smile. "Yeah well I like you too."

Jack rolled his eyes and gave him a crooked smile. "You're not a stupid man Danny. I'm not saying that I like you as in you are my idol or I like you as in you are my friend. I am saying that I like you as in I want to kiss you. There is a slight different between the three."

Danny momentarily held his breath. His eyes had doubled in size and not even Danny himself was sure of why that was. Was it because he didn't expect Jack to be so blunt or was it because the words he was hearing sounded so much like the words he had wanted to hear, or say. He looked down on his fingers as they shakily moved across his legs. The shaking didn't go unnoticed by Jack who acted as if he didn't see it.

"That sounds good." Danny eventually said.

Jack stopped toying with the deck of cards and put it back on the table. Just out of Danny's reach.

"What sounds good?" Jack asked as he leaned forward – suddenly feeling braver than he did just mere seconds ago – and leaned his hands against Danny's legs.

If Jack hadn't seen enough of Danny's magic shows to know that he rarely left alone then he would almost suspect that this was uncharted territories. But Jack knew that wasn't the case. Quite the contrary.

"The kissing." Danny replied as he looked straight into Jack's eyes.

The sleight gave him that typical crooked smile and again that made Danny's heart beat faster. He scooted closer to Jack so that their knees bumped into each other and he no longer needed to stretch his arms completely to reach him.

Jack smirked. "Okay then."

The kiss was everything Jack wanted it to be and more. He had heard stories about J. Daniel Atlas. Both in terms of his magic and other things. He knew before that the rumors about the magic was true. And now as the kiss grew more heated, their hands investigated each other's bodies and they molded themselves after each other Jack knew that the other rumors he had heard was also true.

 _March 29th; 4:44 PM, 45 East Evan Street, NY, NY_

"I need coffee." Jack muttered with his eyes almost closed from where he sat next to Danny. "Hey dude, can you drop me of? I need my caffeine." He lazily spoke as he leaned against Danny's shoulder.

"I told you we should have left earlier."

Jack glanced up at him with an amused smile as he stretched his body. "Look me in the eyes and tell me you wish that we left the apartment earlier." When Danny didn't reply, Jack laughed. "That's what I thought. Look, I am just going to get some coffee. You'll be there exactly on time for the both of us."

The cab stopped when Jack told him to and Danny watched his boyfriend walk out of the open door. "You know one of these days you are going to have to learn how to be on time."

Jack winked at him. "Sounds boring. You better hurry Atlas otherwise you'll end up being late too."

His boyfriend rolled his eyes at him and Jack watched as the cab disappeared around the corner. It was crazy how nothing had really changed. Their relationship was as it had always been since the first day they spent time together and the only difference was that they nowadays kissed more. Jack saw it only as a benefit and he quickly got addicted to the feeling of Danny's lips against his own. Few feelings could beat kissing Danny. It also happened to be the best way to shut him up if the situation ever needed him to. Because Danny enjoyed kissing as much as Jack did.

The sleight easily found a place where he could buy coffee and once he was there he bought a cup of tea. With both mugs to go he quickly walked out of the shop. He glanced at the clock and shrugged. He was late. But when was he not late he thought to himself and hurried down the street to the right address. The moment he opened the door he heard voices. One unmistakably belonged to Danny who turned around and gave Jack a smile as he appeared at the end of the hallway.

Jack feigned shock. "No way. J. Daniel Atlas? Dude, I've seen everything that you have ever done. I mean, you're, like - I, I idolize you, seriously."

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah you're hilarious."

Jack nodded and kissed Danny before he gave him his cup of tea. "I know I am. I'm very sweet too because I bought this for you."

Merritt's loud coughing had both men look at him. "I'm guessing you two know each other."

Danny nodded his head towards him. "He's a mentalist. Apparently, he reads minds." There was no missing the sky-high levels of sarcasm in those sentences Jack thought as he allowed himself to smile. Trust Danny to insult people he'd just met.

"Question. Did you get one of these?" Merritt asked Jack while glaring at Danny with something that almost looked like anger.

Jack nodded as he took the card from inside the pocket of his leather jacket. "Yeah, oh, yeah. Death."

Danny's eyes seemed to turn a shade darker in just seconds and he looked at the card as if it was something dangerous, something that he didn't want Jack to be associated with much less been given. He shook his head and looked down on the floor muttering that didn't make any sense but Jack was the only one who noticed.

Henley who hadn't admitted to having seen Jack before took hers out and held it in front of her. "The High Priestess."

"I'm the Lover." Danny said and shrugged.

Jack winked at him and watched as Danny's cheeks turned into a shade of red. "I can _definitely_ vouch for that."

Merritt sighed loudly and earned their attention. "Hermit."

Jack nodded and watched the three as they stood not doing anything. He didn't have to be observant to know that Danny had probably said something to insult them. It was in every movement they did and the tension was thick enough to cut a knife through. Danny looked at the roof, the floor or at Jack. Henley glanced at Merritt whom frowned as he looked at Danny and Jack.

"So, what are we - are we waiting for someone? Why, why are we just...?" Henley and Merritt replied shortly that it was locked and Jack laughed as he turned to his favorite magician. "Danny, I'm disappointed. Didn't you tell them? Nothings ever locked."

 **The end**


End file.
